Contrary to fathers' rights propaganda, father perpetrators (along with stepdads and caretaker boyfrends) dominate the most vicious crimes against children: sexual assault, abusive head trauma, murder-suicides, crimes involving gun violence, and other similar forms of physically violent/fatal child abuse. And as more dads are providing child care (either because mom is working and can't find other care, or because dads are increasingly getting unsupervised visitation/custody through the family courts), more dads are are being found guilty of basic child abuse and neglect as well.

10/25/15 -Because of severe time constraints, we are no longer able to do regular updates at Dastardly Dads. We will occasionally post articles on general studies on child abuse/domestic violence, news pieces involving abusive fathers in custody/visitation situations. We wil also be updating the Killer Dads and Custody lists, while looking for a better, more accessible platform for the data.

7/11/16 - We started this blog on June 24, 2009--just over seven years. And like all good things, it's time to bring this project to a close. It has served its purpose. We have close to 10,500 postings regarding fathers and child abuse, with hundred of those cases being enabled by the family courts, social services, and others in authority. The documentation is clear. It is now time to stop documenting and put that energy into changing the situation that puts thousands of mothers and children at risk every day.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Dad with history of DV who murdered two daughters during custody/visitation to be executed (Dallas, Texas)

The mental illness plea is nothing but a red herring. This is a classic coercive control murder. Daddy with an extensive history of domestic violence (against at least two women that we are told of) "losing control" so he murders two children to "punish" the mother. And yet, a father with this history was still granted custody/visitation rights with two young girls. That's what's insane.Children are abused by definition when they are forced to live in a home where the mother, their caretaker, is beaten up and verbally abused on a regular basis.

That the father had reportedly never physically abused the children up to this point is irrelevant. That is not uncommon. But kids are never safe with a violent narcissist who sees other humans--especially women and children--as mere objects he can use and dispose of as he sees fit. Clearly, the kids were simply collateral damage in his efforts to further abuse/control their mother. Dad is identified as JOHN BATTAGLIA. See the Killer Dads and Custody List for Texas. People sometimes ask why the data is not easily broken down by year. Here's an example. These murders took place in 2001, before this blog/project was started. A news account about the crime didn't come into any of my news feeds until 15 years had passed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3514282/Dallas-man-set-executed-death-daughters-9-6.html'I'm too delusional to die': Accountant who killed his two daughters, nine and six, while his ex-wife listened on the phone makes last-ditch plea to avoid execution TODAY
John David Battaglia, 60, killed daughters Faith and Liberty in 2001
He is appealing for more time to prove he is mentally incompetent
The murders came after his ex-wife reported he was harassing her
Was arrested at a tattoo parlor, getting two roses to remember his girls
Battaglia is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday in Huntsville

Pearle yelled into the phone for the girls to run and heard gunshots, followed by Battaglia telling her: 'Merry f****** Christmas'.

Evidence showed Faith had been shot three times, and Liberty five. A semiautomatic pistol found near the kitchen door was among more than a dozen firearms recovered from Battaglia's apartment.

Battaglia went to a bar with a girlfriend following the shootings, and then to a tattoo parlor. He was inked with two large roses on his left arm, meant to represent his daughters.

When he walked outside, it took four officers to subdue and arrest him at 2am. A fully loaded revolver was found in his truck.

It was later discovered that Battaglia had recorded one last message to his daughters.

'Goodnight my little babies,' he said. 'I hope you're resting in a different place. I love you, and I wish that you had nothing to do with your mother.'

'She was evil and vicious and stupid. I love you dearly.'

Battaglia's trial attorneys called no witnesses during the guilt-innocence portion of his capital murder trial in 2002, and a Dallas County jury deliberated only 19 minutes before convicting him.

During the punishment phase, jurors heard defense testimony that Battaglia's bipolar disorder and other mental illness issues should convince them that a life prison sentence would be appropriate. They did not agree.

'To think a father could just gun down his little girls, it was just unbelievable,' Howard Blackmon, the lead prosecutor in the case, recalled last week.

'It was such a compelling case for the death penalty.'

The Texas Attorney General's Office argued there is no evidence in his prison medical file that suggests Battaglia is 'mentally ill, delusional, divorced from reality, on psychiatric medication, or otherwise does not comprehend his imminent execution'.